From his top tips on succeeding in business to some hard-hitting opinions on the global finance crisis, this book brings together his best advice on all things business.It's business school, the Branson way.

    This smart and pithy book focuses on a simple though vexing challenge: How can the leaders of an organization exhort their people to deliver on the most important goals?....It's rare to find a book like this that blends smart practice with intelligent articulation of how to get things done. Do yourself a favor. Buy it." --The Boston Globe"Making all of the moving parts of an organization function smoothly together is just plain hard work. By describing how he has done it, Mr. Bossidy has come up with a valuable and practical management guide that is must-reading for everyone who cares about business." --The New York Times"If you want to be a CEO--or if you are a CEO and want to keep your job--read Execution and put its principles to work." --Michael Dell, chairman and CEO, Dell Computer Corp."A how-to book for the can-do boss....If even half the corporations in America pondered their suggestions, the economy would be in much better shape. Moreover, Bossidy and Charan boast an impressive enough track record that anyone who wants to stay sharp at the helm will welcome their assistance." --BusinessWeek"Sound, practical advice on how to make things happen." --Ralph S. Larsen, chairman and CEO, Johnson & Johnson"Here's the real deal.... This is no-nonsense stuff.... The leaders who sweat the small stuff, hire the right people, make the tough decisions and stick around to see that they're carried out are the real winners.... Forget the swarmy memoirs, cheesy parables, advice for idiots, and leadership secrets of despots and barbarians. Getting it done is, according to Bossidy and Charan, the only way to grow." --The Miami Herald"Captures a lifetime of building winning formulas and puts them in a simple, practical context for executives at any level." --Ivan Seidenberg, president and CEO, Verizon

    But in our zeal to instill the evaluation process with scientific rigor, we've gone from measuring performance to fixating on measuring itself. The result is a tyranny of metrics that threatens the quality of our lives and most important institutions. In this timely and powerful book, Jerry Muller uncovers the damage our obsession with metrics is causing--and shows how we can begin to fix the problem.Filled with examples from education, medicine, business and finance, government, the police and military, and philanthropy and foreign aid, this brief and accessible book explains why the seemingly irresistible pressure to quantify performance distorts and distracts, whether by encouraging "gaming the stats" or "teaching to the test." That's because what can and does get measured is not always worth measuring, may not be what we really want to know, and may draw effort away from the things we care about. Along the way, we learn why paying for measured performance doesn't work, why surgical scorecards may increase deaths, and much more. But metrics can be good when used as a complement to--rather than a replacement for--judgment based on personal experience, and Muller also gives examples of when metrics have been beneficial.Complete with a checklist of when and how to use metrics, The Tyranny of Metrics is an essential corrective to a rarely questioned trend that increasingly affects us all.

    Traditionally, creating a marketing plan has been a difficult and time-consuming process, which is why it often doesn't get done. In The 1-Page Marketing Plan, serial entrepreneur and rebellious marketer Allan Dib reveals a marketing implementation breakthrough that makes creating a marketing plan simple and fast. It's literally a single page, divided up into nine squares. With it you'll be able to map out your own sophisticated marketing plan and go from zero to marketing hero. Whether you're just starting out or are an experienced entrepreneur, The 1-Page Marketing Plan is the easiest and fastest way to create a marketing plan that will propel your business growth. In this groundbreaking new book you'll discover: • How to get new customers, clients, or patients and how make more profit from existing ones. • Why “big business” style marketing could kill your business and strategies that actually work for small and medium-sized businesses. • How to close sales without being pushy, needy, or obnoxious while turning the tables and having prospects begging you to take their money. • A simple step-by-step process for creating your own personalized marketing plan that is literally one page. Simply follow along and fill in each of the nine squares that make up your own 1-Page Marketing Plan. • How to annihilate competitors and make yourself the only logical choice. • How to get amazing results on a small budget using the secrets of direct response marketing. • How to charge high prices for your products and services and have customers actually thank you for it.

    One of the primary business texts of the modern era, it is based on the work of the Harvard Negotiation Project, a group that deals with all levels of negotiation and conflict resolution. Getting to Yes offers a proven, step-by-step strategy for coming to mutually acceptable agreements in every sort of conflict. Thoroughly updated and revised, it offers readers a straight- forward, universally applicable method for negotiating personal and professional disputes without getting angry-or getting taken.This is by far the best thing I`ve ever read about negotiation. It is equally relevant for the individual who would like to keep his friends, property, and income and the statesman who would like to keep the peace." --John Kenneth Galbraith"

    Blending theory with practice, this book provides applied advice.

    That simple, profound story has inspired hundreds of thousands of readers around the world-but some have wondered how its lessons stand up to the tough challenges of everyday real-world business. Now Burg and Mann answer that question in Go-Givers Sell More, a practical guide that makes giving the cornerstone of a powerful and effective approach to selling. Most of us think of sales as convincing potential customers to do something they don't really want to. This mentality sets up an adversarial relationship and makes the sales process much harder than it has to be. As Burg and Mann demonstrate, it's far more productive (and satisfying) when salespeople think like Go-Givers. Cultivate a trusting relationship and focus exclusively on creating value for the other person, say the authors, and great results will follow automatically. Drawing on a wide range of examples of real-life salespeople who have prospered by giving more, Burg and Mann offer tips and strategies that anyone in sales can start applying right away.

    Covey, RESUMES ARE DEAD is not for the faint of heart. This ebook tackles one of life's most compelling choices: money or meaning? The audio is relevant, timely and career-critical. Learn how to design a career that supports your quest for both money and meaning—providing you the freedom to pursue your dreams and live your ideal lifestyle.This is career development reworked, unconventional and results-driven. Whether you're retired, in the middle of your career, fresh out of college, or have been hit hard by economic crisis, RESUMES ARE DEAD is chock-full of powerful, raw principles that will help you find your footing, contribute to the world in meaningful ways, and simultaneously create your ideal lifestyle.“My verdict: SHEER GENIUS! I love it, I think it’s brilliant, I think it’s bold and courageous, I think it will help people out everywhere.”—Stephen M.R. Covey, author of The New York Times bestseller, The Speed of Trust“Richie hits the nail on the head in the pursuit of dreams. We cannot sit back and wait for life to serve up opportunities, but rather we must create our value and contribute in a powerful way.”—Kenny Anderson, author of Common Denominators for Success“Can I just say WOOOOOOOOOOOW!!! I’m just moved and on fire right now. Very relevant and timely message for our days (and for everyone)!”—Juri Widiger, Brussels, Belgium“This is a great book at so many levels. If you are looking to find your own direction or just need the motivation to move forward, Richie’s book can help. I found it empowering as an employer as well. I want the employees Richie describes in this book, and it helps me to recognize what I need to do to attract and keep those kinds of employees.”—Jeff Heggie, CEO, Kodiak Mountain Stone, Canada“This turned my brain upside-down—in the best way possible!”—Rachel DeVault, photographer, mother, wife, Texas“This really helps me get off my retirement rocking chair and want to do something meaningful for myself and others around me.”—Andy Macatiag, adjunct professor, Chaminade University, Hawaii1st message: “Love the e-book. Thank you for taking the leap and inspiring me. I’m just so grateful for your book! It gave me some meaningful direction.”2nd message: “Richie, I’m headed to an interview tomorrow. I’m beyond stoked and appreciate your e-book. I read it again and it got me pumped. I’ll let you know how it turns out. Thank you, sir.”3rd message: “Dude. I got the job. Thank you for your inspiration!”—Adam Buchanan, Portland, Oregon1st message: “I should NOT have read this just before going to bed last night. I felt so empowered after I read it and I had a million ideas going through my head. Amazing experience, but a little rough on the sleep department.”2nd message: “When I read the book I was stuck in a rut. After reading your book, changes came immediately. I found an internship with a major opera company, introduced myself and was hired within a week. Life is different. Your book gave me the key to a door to the world that I had been staring at my entire life, but I didn’t know how to open.”—Olivia Biddle, Adjunct Professor of Voice and Music

    Now, hot on the heels of his acclaimed international bestseller The McKinsey Way, Ethan Rasiel brings readers a powerful new guide to putting McKinsey concepts and skills into action­­The McKinsey Mind. While the first book used case studies and anecdotes from former and current McKinseyites to describe how the firm solves the thorniest business problems of their A-list clients, The McKinsey Mind goes a giant step further. It explains, step-by-step, how to use McKinsey tools, techniques and strategies to solve an array of core business problems and to make any business venture more successful.Designed to work as a stand-alone guide or together with The McKinsey Way, The McKinsey Mind follows the same critically acclaimed style and format as its predecessor. In this book authors Rasiel and Friga expand upon the lessons found in The McKinsey Way with real-world examples, parables, and easy-to-do exercises designed to get readers up and running.

    It's the art of anticipating your opponent's next moves, knowing full well that your rival is trying to do the same thing to you. Though parts of game theory involve simple common sense, much is counterintuitive, and it can only be mastered by developing a new way of seeing the world. Using a diverse array of rich case studies—from pop culture, TV, movies, sports, politics, and history—the authors show how nearly every business and personal interaction has a game-theory component to it. Are the winners of reality-TV contests instinctive game theorists? Do big-time investors see things that most people miss? What do great poker players know that you don't? Mastering game theory will make you more successful in business and life, and this lively book is the key to that mastery.

    They are with us today and will become increasingly common in coming years, along with virtual reality and digital personal assistants. As these tools advance deeper into everyday use, they raise the question—how will they transform society, the economy, and politics? If companies need fewer workers due to automation and robotics, what happens to those who once held those jobs and don't have the skills for new jobs? And since many social benefits are delivered through jobs, how are people outside the workforce for a lengthy period of time going to earn a living and get health care and social benefits? Looking past today's headlines, political scientist and cultural observer Darrell M. West argues that society needs to rethink the concept of jobs, reconfigure the social contract, move toward a system of lifetime learning, and develop a new kind of politics that can deal with economic dislocations. With the U.S. governance system in shambles because of political polarization and hyper-partisanship, dealing creatively with the transition to a fully digital economy will vex political leaders and complicate the adoption of remedies that could ease the transition pain. It is imperative that we make major adjustments in how we think about work and the social contract in order to prevent society from spiraling out of control. This book presents a number of proposals to help people deal with the transition from an industrial to a digital economy. We must broaden the concept of employment to include volunteering and parenting and pay greater attention to the opportunities for leisure time. New forms of identity will be possible when the "job" no longer defines people's sense of personal meaning, and they engage in a broader range of activities. Workers will need help throughout their lifetimes to acquire new skills and develop new job capabilities. Political reforms will be necessary to reduce polarization and restore civility so there can be open and healthy debate about where responsibility lies for economic well-being. This book is an important contribution to a discussion about tomorrow—one that needs to take place today.

    The massive pressure on CIOs continues to increase as the opportunities to use technology in business become more prevalent and more competitive. As CIOs often find themselves at the center of business conflict, they must not only familiarize themselves with Machiavellian tactics as a defensive weapon, but also learn to use them as an offensive weapon in extreme situations so that they can increase IT’s contribution to their enterprises.As Italian political philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli implied, you're either predator or prey, and the animal you most resemble determines your position on the food chain. In The Wolf in CIO's Clothing Gartner analyst and author Tina Nunno expands on Machiavelli's metaphor, examining seven animal types and the leadership attributes of each. Nunno posits the wolf — a social animal with strong predatory instincts — as the ideal example of how a leader can adapt and thrive.Technology may be black and white, but successful leadership demands an ability to exist in the grey. Drawing on her experience with hundreds of CIOs, Nunno charts a viable way to master the Machiavellian principles of power, manipulation, love, and war. Through compelling case studies, her approach demonstrates how CIOs and IT leaders can adjust their leadership styles in extreme situations for their own success and that of their teams.

    Strategic planning is essential. People's competencies should be measured and their weaknesses shored up. People crave feedback.These may sound like basic truths of our work lives today. But actually, they're lies. As strengths guru and bestselling author Marcus Buckingham and Cisco Leadership and Team Intelligence head Ashley Goodall show in this provocative, inspiring book, there are some big lies--distortions, faulty assumptions, wrong thinking--running through our organizational lives. Nine lies, to be exact. They cause dysfunction and frustration and ultimately result in a strange feeling of unreality that pervades our workplaces.But there are those who can get past the lies and discover what's real. These are freethinking leaders who recognize the power and beauty of our individual uniqueness, who know that emergent patterns are more valuable than received wisdom, and that evidence is more powerful than dogma. With engaging stories and incisive analysis, the authors reveal the essential truths that such freethinking leaders will recognize immediately: that it is the strength and cohesiveness of your team, not your company's culture, that matters most; that we need less focus on top-down planning and more on giving our people reliable, real-time intelligence; that rather than trying to align people's goals we should strive to align people's sense of purpose and meaning; that people don't want constant feedback, they want helpful attention. This is the real world of work.If you embrace each person's uniqueness and see this as key for all healthy organizations; if you reject dogma and engage with the real world; if you seek out emergent patterns and put your faith in evidence, not philosophy; if you thrill to the power of teams--if you do all of these, then you are a freethinking leader, and this book is for you.

    Now completely revised, this book is available for the first time in paperback. The Sales Bible has helped tens of thousands of salespeople all over the world reach their potential and close the big deal. Gitomer gives sales professionals the right answers to the toughest questions:How to make sales in any economic environment Twenty-five ways to get that most-elusive appointment Top-down selling How to fill the sales pipeline with prospects ready to buy How to use the right questions to make more sales in half the time This book is everything its title claims to be

    Chief of Staff: The Strategic Partner Who Will Revolutionize Your Organization presents the results of his research in a clear and practical way. To help business leaders explore the value that a chief of staff offers as a trusted advisor and “chief get-it-done officer,” Parris presents three “pivots” to consider: Organization dynamics Most commonly reported benefits of the role (for leaders, chiefs of staff, and organizations) Deliverables that chiefs of staff most commonly manage for leaders He also explores the history and current context for the role, provides guidelines for how to find and hire the right candidate, suggests ways to make the most of the first 90–100 days, and offers advice on how to develop the role over time.As several of the CEOs Parris interviewed point out, even if you never hire a chief of staff, the thought process that goes into considering the possibility can be a useful exercise in finding strengths and gaps in your current team or approach—and can help you lead more effectively.